Political People and their Moves

Julie Caruthers Parsley and Bryan Hebert are fronting the new Texas Conservative Roundtable, which they describe as a conservative advocacy group, backed by businesses and trade groups, to try to reach consensus on things like tax policy, infrastructure and education issues.

They won't have a political action committee, but plan to be active during election season with social media and grassroots and possibly some advertising. During legislative sessions, they'll be an advocacy group, speaking to voters and groups around the state and to the people in the Pink Building.

Parsley, an attorney and former Public Utility Commissioner, comes in as president; Hebert, an attorney most recently with Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, will be executive director.

They're still organizing and won't yet name sponsors or backers. The setup resembles that of other advocacy groups around state government; they say the roundtable isn't intended to be a counter to any particular group. That said, they also are talking about issues that have been corked in recent years by officeholders' reluctance to come up with new funding for roads, the state's water plan, or other programs.

Jay Kimbrough, the former deputy chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, has has been hired as an assistant director of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Adam Jones is leaving the Texas Education Agency, where he was deputy commissioner and COO for the Weaver and Tidwell accounting firm, where he'll be director of state government services. He's been in that TEA job since 2003 and worked on the Senate Education Committee before joining TEA.

Former state Rep. Nathan Macias, R-Bulverde, is joining the Texas Public Policy Foundation as a senior policy analyst.

Perry appointed three members to the Finance Commission of Texas. Darby Byrd Sr. of Orange is the retired president and CEO of Orange Savings Bank and the current vice chairman of the bank’s board of directors. H. “Jay” Shands III of Lufkin is president and CEO of First Bank and Trust East Texas and board chairman of First Bank of Conroe and Balcones Recycling. Victor Leal of Amarillo is president and CEO of V. Leals’s Management and Leal’s Mexican Restaurants and is former mayor of Muleshoe.

Straus also announced appointments to the Joint Interim Committee to Study Alzheimer's Disease. Straus appointed Rep. John Zerwas, R-Simonton, as co-chairman of the committee, and the committee members include Reps. Helen Giddings, D-Dallas; Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving; Susan King, R-Abilene; and Marisa Marquez, D-El Paso.